Useful Apps For Hearing Loss

Computers, smartphones and tablets are increasingly prevalent in just about everyone’s life these days and with the use of the right websites, apps and services can be valuable tools in helping one to live well with hearing loss.

With new services and apps popping up just about every day, we cannot hope to cover everything that’s out there on this one page however we have attempted to curate a selection of what we believe to be some of the most useful options.

Telephone calls

Making telephone calls is often an issue for people with hearing loss. The apps presented here are options that turn the speech of the call into text that you can read.

NGTs is an updated replacement for the Text Relay service from BT which has been operating in the UK for several decades. The primary difference from the older service is the ability to make calls using smartphones as well as landlines enabling use of the service when away from your household phone. The calls are captioned by relay operators who sit in the middle of the call and type up the responses of the person you are calling. Calls are typically charged as part of your standard phone contract or pay as you go service.

The service is provided via an app available on both Apple and Android devices. For more detailed information about this service, please visit our NGTS information page.

This is another app designed to facilitate phone calls for hard of hearing individuals by captioning the content of the call in real time. Unlike the NGTs service, the calls are captioned via a computer voice recognition system rather than a live person in the middle which may be preferable to some.

RogerVoice operates over an internet connection so an active WiFi or 3g/4g data service is required on your phone to make & receive phone calls. The service is free to use between users of the app which is great if you can get your family/contacts to install the app on their phones, however calls to standard phones (ie those not using the app) will require the purchase of a call plan. These advanced plans also give access to a “Roger Number” which can be given out in place of your normal number to ensure that all calls go through the RogerVoice app.

Speech to text

Speech to text apps and services are designed to aid communication by converting what is being said into text on your phone, tablet or laptop. The apps listed here do this with computer voice recognition software and usually require an active internet connection to function. While all the apps/services listed here will work with built in mics on your devices, we recommend looking into inexpensive external mics to maximise recognition accuracy.

This is not an app that can be installed on your phone or tablet, but rather is a website that one can visit in Google Chrome web browser and immediately start using without any need for installation or set up. We have found accuracy to be very good provided that the speaker talks clearly and at a reasonable pace.

The downside to the service is that it will not currently work in mobile or tablet browsers and must be used with the desktop version of Google Chrome. However, the service does not require powerful computer hardware to function and any cheap/small laptop or Chromebook will work great. We have also had success with inexpensive Windows tablets with Google Chrome too.

Use of the website & service is completely free and is useable in a number of scenarios beyond one on one conversation – visit the website for more information.

A voice recognition app from Geemarc with versions for both Android and Apple devices. The Android version has the advantage of being completely free to use with unlimited use of the service, while the Apple version requires payment for blocks of minutes.

Available only on Apple devices, this app is completely free to use and unlike most others in this category it operates on a push to talk basis – in other words, it provides captions only while the red button on-screen is touched so may be useful for short burst of captioning at moments where it is needed rather than ongoing. Other useful features include the ability to scale the text produced up to rather large sizes for those whose eyesight may struggle with other apps.

This is a speech to text app with some sophisticated features beyond what most other apps provide, in particular the group conversation ability. In this mode, all those involved in a conversation can add Ava to their own phones, join the Ava conversation group and speak. The text of what they say will show up on the screens of everyone involved along with their name. Ava also works in simple single display mode too much like the apps mentioned earlier. Ava does require payment for the use of the service past a certain number of minutes used each month although only the person “hosting” the conversation needs to pay – the others can join free of charge.

Sound loudness measurement

These apps can be used to measure the loudness of sounds around you, for example in restaurants, bars or similar venues. One should note that the figures generated by these apps are not equivalent to a properly calibrated decibel meter, but can nonetheless serve to give some approximation.

Another possible use could be for practicing voice control in cases of hearing loss where one can no longer reliably judge the loudness of one’s own speaking voice. Typical methods of learning voice control involve feeling the vibration of the throat but the use of one of these apps can give objective, visual feedback too.

The apps in this section are geared towards using your phone for sound amplification and clarity. They are not replacements for hearing aids and are designed to be used with earphones or headphones. Could be handy in a pinch if you run out of batteries in your hearing aids!

This might seem like an unusual entry on this page, but it has one very nice feature that can be useful for those with hearing loss. If you search for a business (café, restaurant etc), and click on its pin on the map further information will appear on the left. Looking down that area you will often see a section labelled “Popular Times”. This is great for judging when might be the least busy, and therefore (hopefully) the quietest time to visit that establishment.